Coming to Oklahoma? National Popular Vote and Convention of States?

OK-SAFE, Inc. – Things are already percolating for Oklahoma’s upcoming 2014 legislative session. And it looks like the ol’ Constitution is being targeted for reform…again.

Just a heads up on a couple of items being proposed for the upcoming 2014 legislative session.

I. Popular Vote

It is reported that Rep. Don Armes and Sen. Rob Johnson are considering legislation that would modify the electoral college system and adopt a national popular vote for electing the President.
This information is from a legislator approached by the lobbyist promoting the idea.

Here’s the group (we believe) pushing the adoption of a National Popular Vote:

According to their website they have 10 jurisdictions already on board.

Over 50% of the Way to Activating the National Popular Vote Bill – August 8, 2012The National Popular Vote bill has now been signed into law in 10 jurisdictions possessing 136 electoral votes — 50.4% of the 270 electoral votes needed to bring the National Popular Vote interstate compact into effect.

District of Columbia – 3 electoral votes

Hawaii – 4 electoral votes

Illinois – 20 electoral votes

Maryland – 10 electoral votes

Massachusetts – 11 electoral votes

New Jersey – 14 electoral votes

Washington – 12 electoral votes

Vermont – 3 electoral votes

California – 55 electoral votes

Rhode Island – 4 electoral votes

This call to do away with/modify the electoral college and go with a popular vote comes up from time to time. This time the effort seems pretty well organized. They even have some current and former elected officials on board.

Below are various explanations of the Electoral College process. [This is not necessarily an endorsement of these organizations – they just happen to have pretty good explanations of the electoral system.]

There is also a general call being floated around for a Convention of States, promoted by Citizens for Self Governance. Such a call would require 34 states to pass legislation calling for such a Convention. From their website: “Rather than calling a convention for a specific amendment, Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG) has launched the Convention of the States Project to urge state legislatures to properly use Article V to call a convention for a particular subject—reducing the power of Washington, D.C.”

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This proposal in no way “does away with or modifies the electoral college.” It simply is a proposal to decide the manner in which we allocate OK’s electoral votes under the authority of Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. The electoral college remains in place as it always has, with sovereign states determining the manner in which their electoral votes are cast.

A survey of Oklahoma voters showed 81% overall support for the idea that the President of the United States should be the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states.

Voters were asked “How do you think we should elect the President: Should it be the candidate who gets the most votes in all 50 states, or the current Electoral College system?”

By political affiliation, support for a national popular vote was 75% among Republicans, 84% among Democrats, and 75% among others.
By gender, support was 84% among women and 69% among men.
By age, support was 84% among 18-29 year olds, 70% among 30-45 year olds, 75% among 46-65 year olds, and 82% for those older than 65.

The National Popular Vote bill would change current state winner-take-all laws that award all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who get the most popular votes in each separate state (not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, but since enacted by 48 states), to a system guaranteeing the majority of Electoral College votes for, and the Presidency to, the candidate getting the most popular votes in the entire United States.

The bill preserves the constitutionally mandated Electoral College and state control of elections. It ensures that every vote is equal, every voter will matter, in every state, in every presidential election, and the candidate with the most votes wins, as in virtually every other election in the country.

Under National Popular Vote, every vote, everywhere, would be politically relevant and equal in every presidential election. Every vote would be included in the state counts and national count. When states with a combined total of at least 270 electoral votes enact the bill, the candidate with the most popular votes in all 50 states and DC would get the needed majority of 270+ electoral votes from the enacting states. The bill would thus guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes.

More than 2,110 state legislators (in 50 states) have sponsored and/or cast recorded votes in favor of the National Popular Vote bill. The bill has passed 32 state legislative chambers in 21 rural, small, medium, and large states with 243 electoral votes. The bill has been enacted by 10 jurisdictions with 136 electoral votes – 50.4% of the 270 necessary to go into effect.

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